I'm with Irulan on this one. Unless he said it in a sneery tone or gave you a funny look, I'd have thought he was just letting you know.

Maybe as you were not familiar with the area he thought he should mention it so you didn't potenially end up being dropped in the middle of an unfamilar area.

As secretary of our bike club we sometimes get new members ( mostly men) phoning up for details of rides, and if a group were going out on a fast ride, I'd always tell the person enquiring, just as a point of information. Regardless of how good you are, it's useful to know what the pace of the ride is going to be before you arrive so you know what to expect. Like I said, unless he was telling you in a patronizing tone I'm sure he was just giving you the details.